Door check and closer.



n. s. POTTER e P. MIKKELSEN.

DUOR CHECK AND CLOSER.

APPucATloN min JULY Il. Isls.

. Patented Sept. 18, 1917. aff- IIII ` WTNESSES UNTTED @TATS PATENT @FTTCE ROBERT S. POTTER, OF GREENWICI-I, AND FEDER IVIIKKELSEN, OF STANFORD, CON- NECTICUT, SSIGfNOIEtS TO THE YALE & TOWNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OIE' STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

DOOR CHECK AND CLOSER'.

readers.,

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that we, ROBERT S. POTTER, of Greenwich, Fairfield county, Connecticut, and PEDER MIKKELSEN, of Stamford, in the county of Faireld and State of Connecticut, and citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Checks and Closers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 4

Our invention relates to improvementsin door checks andclosers which are set into the floor and constitute a hinge for therlower end of the door, and particularly to that type ofcheck and closer wherein the piston is secured at one end to the casing, and the cylinder, through the action of a lever and its shaft, is pulled away from vthe piston in the act of opening the door and is pushed lup against it by the action of a spring durlng the closing movement of the door, this latter movement being resisted by a liquid which is forced through a valved opening, as is customary in liquid checks.

The object of this invention is to prol vide an improved valve for the escape of the liquid from the cylinder during the closing movement of the door, and it consists of the parts and combination of'parts as will 'be more .fully explained and pointed out. in the claims. f

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top view partly in section and vpartly broken away of a combined check and closer .embodying our invention the cover plate being removed and shown belowvsaid ligure; Fig.` 2 is an enlarged view in vertical section of the valve mechanism, and F1g.v3is

a view on line w--m of Fig. 2.-

4 represents a casing'to be embedded in the floor below the door, and closed at its it upper side by cover plate 5 secured by screws to laterally projecting flanges atthe upper open edgel of, the caslng. Mounted inthe casing 4 and cover 5 adjacent one end of the casing, is the vertical Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led July `11, 115,116.- Serial No. 108,700.

spindle or shaft 6, the lower end of which is seated in a socket 7 in the bottom of the caslng, and is supported near its upper end by a suitable bearing formed in or carried by the cover. The upper end of the spindle 6, which projects above the cover is made angular iny cross section and is adapted to enter a correspondingly formed recess in a lever or shoe to be carried by the lower edge of the door.

The spindle or shaft 6 is provided with as cam, preferably of heart shape as shown, and adapted to engage rollers Acarried by the yoke 8, which is connected with the rod 9 carrying the cylinder 10.

The cylinder is provided at its outer open end with a peripheral ange 10 which is engaged by one end of the spring 11, the

opposite end of said spring bearing against Patented Sept., 11.8, )19T ''o the `stop plate 12 through which the rod 9 'l passes, the said stop plate being restrained by its' contact'with the casing and cover, against movement toward the shaft 6, hence when the shaft is turned as in opening the door, the spring llwill be compressed or put under tension and operate to close the door vwhen the latter is released.

The cylinder 10 is mounted and reciprocates on the'hollow piston 13,1and is provided at its closed end with an inletport 10" for the passage ofthe checking liquid to the interior of the cylinder and piston, this port being closed during the closing movement of the door, by a ball valveE 10,

so that the liquid must, at such time escape through the port 13a at the rear end of the A piston as shown in Fig. 2.

The hollow piston 13 is provided at its rear closed end withva rearwardly extending lug 14, the latter lbeing preferably integral with the piston. The axis of this lug is vertical and the lug has a curved periphery which conforns to the curved recessed seat 15 formed integral with the casing 4 at the rear end of the latter. This recessed seat is open at the top and has a restricted opening at the front for the narrowed neck of the lug 14, the parts being so shaped and of such size as to permit the lug to turn in its bearing, and in this way provide for proper coordination of the piston 13 with its cylinder 10 during the movements of the latter while opening and closing the door.

To prevent the lug from rising out of its seat, a projection 16 is formed integral with the cover plate 5, which projection, when the parts are' assembled, comes within such distance of the top of the lug as shown, as to preventany undue vertical movement.

The lug 14 is provided with a centrally .located vertical bore, which in the present instance is lined with thebushing 18. The port 13a in the end of the piston, passes through this" bushing and opens into the bore of the latter. j

19 is a screw valve, the external threads of which conform as to size .and shape with the threads inthe bushing above port 13, while the threads in the bushing below the port are more or less cut away so as to leave spaces between the threadsv of the screw and bushing for the escape of the liquid downwardly between the said parts. It is obvious therefore, that when the liquid is forced through port 13a, as is the case during the closing movement of the door, it will escape downwardly between the threads on the screw and bushing. It is also 0bviousy that as the external threaded screw is screwed in to a greater or less depth, the length of the passage through which the liquid must be forced will be longer or shorter, and therefore the time required to force the liquid through will be correspondingly increased or decreased. It will therefore be apparent that by screwing the screw valve 19 more or less, the time required to force the liquid through will be correspondingly lengthened lor shortened.

An important feature of this construction is that while the ti. 1e for the closing movement may be regulated, it is not done by varying the size of the vescape opening through which the liquid passes, but merely by making such opening longer orshorter and thus increasing or decreasing the friction. The objection to making theliquid escape hole larger or smaller by means of a valve, is that when the hole is small enough to satisfy some conditions, small particles of dirt in the liquid are liable to become clogged therein and thus interfere, if not destroy the operation of the check, whereas with our improvement if the opening be throttled down to its limit, the opening through which the liquid must pass will be as large as ever but considerably longer.

A minor advantage is that when the liquid is forced through a small hole with considerable force, a whistling sound is produced, which in this construction is obviated.

The screw valve 19 is adjusted to lengthen or shorten the passage through which the escaping liquid must pass, by the stem 20, the head 21 of which is seated, and packed in a recessed seat in the cover plate 5, the said seat being in the vertical plane of the screw valve 19. The shank of this stem 20 is preferably rectangular in cross section and passes through yan oblong slot 22 in the head 23 of the screw valve 19, the slot 22 being somewhat wider than the thickness of the shank of stem 20, so as to permit the lug 14 and screw 19 to turn with the piston 13 during the opening and closing movements of the door, without turning said stem. The screw valve 19 is preferably made hollow as shown and by turning the stem 20, the screw valve will be moved up or down on the stem, the head 21 of the rod being preferably provided 4with a slot for a driver by which it may be turned.

We have shown the bore of the lug lined with a bushing, and while this construction is preferable, it is not necessary, as the internal threads for the screw can be cut nin the lug 14: or any other part of the check where it could be advantageously employed. 90

Again, while we have shown the valve as applied to a well -known type of door check and closer, we do not confine its application to such type, or to any other particular type, but claim it broadly for use on all liquid checks where control of the escaping' liquid 1s necessary.

Having fully described our invention whatwe claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

t 1. A valve for controlling the escape of liquid consisting of an internally threaded member having a port and an externally threaded member within said other member and passing the port therein, the threads on one of said members being partly cut away in that portion of the valve through which the liquid must pass in escaping, the externally threaded member being adjustable in the other member whereby the length of the threaded section through which the liquid must flow in escaping can be lengthened or shortened.

2. A valve consisting of a member having a bore and a port leading to the bore intermediate the ends of the latter, the said bore being threaded at both sides of the port, the threads being partly cut away on that portion of the bore through which the liquid must pass in escaping, an externally threaded member adapted to adjust the length of the thread through which the liquid must How in escaping. and means for actuating the externally threaded member.

- 3. A valve consisting of a member having a bore, a bushing within said bore, a port in said member and communicating with the bore of the bushing, the said bore'of the ico meow@ bushing beingthreaded, the threads iu that this specification in the presence of two portion through Which the liquid must pass subscribing Witnesses.

in escaping being partly out away, and an ROBERT S. POTTER.

externally threaded member adapted to aol- FEDER MIKKELSEN. 5 just the length of the thread through which lNitnesses:

the liquid must HOW in escaping. JOHN W. SCQMELD,

ln testimony whereof, We have signed WILLIAM S. BALKHAM. 

